Fitting assemblies are generally used for fixing one item to another. A known type of fitting assembly is used for affixing components to the body of a vehicle. During assembly it is often desirable to make adjustments to the fixing system to align the component to be fixed with certain features of the vehicle. However, in certain cases, simultaneous alignment of the component and adjustment of the fixing system may not be possible thereby necessitating iterative trial and error adjustments to achieve the desired alignment. As an example, where the component is a spoiler that is to be attached to the tailgate of a vehicle, current fixing systems require the tailgate to be open for adjustments to be made. However, when the tailgate is open, the spoiler cannot be aligned with the features of the vehicle that surround the spoiler when the tailgate is in its closed configuration (e.g. the sides and roof of the vehicle). Consequently, any adjustment made to the fixing system (e.g. to alter the distance between the spoiler and the tailgate) must be made whilst the tailgate is open and be followed by a subsequent inspection with the tailgate closed to assess whether the desired alignment has been achieved. If the desired alignment has not been achieved, the tailgate must be opened again for a further adjustment to be made followed by a further inspection with the tailgate closed. This process must be repeated until the desired alignment is achieved.
It is an object of embodiments of the invention to at least mitigate one or more of the problems of the prior art.